Opium & opioids

Publications8 October 2025

Opioid agonist maintenance treatment as an essential health service: Implementation guidance on mitigating disruption of services for treatment of opioid dependence

WHO underscores opioid agonist maintenance treatment (OAMT) as an essential, lifesaving health service, providing practical strategies to prevent and manage disruptions, safeguard access to methadone and buprenorphine, and ensure continuity of care during crises and instability.

Publications11 September 2025

'They won’t prosecute, but they will though:' The continuing struggle between criminalisation and harm reduction within the criminal justice system in the context of an opioid overdose crisis

Dickson-Gomez et al. show that punitive action by US police during overdose responses may increase overdose risk and decrease reliance on emergency services.

Publications1 September 2025

US substance use harm reduction efforts: a review of the current state of policy, policy barriers, and recommendations

Bailey E. Pridgen et al. review the current state and federal harm reduction intervention policies in the US, calling for reform to remove existing structural and legal barriers.

Events

48th meeting of the WHO Expert Committee on Drug Dependence (ECDD)

Online

20 October 2025 - 22 October 2025

The WHO's ECDD meeting will assess the critical reviews of a handful of substances, including the coca leaf, guiding future international scheduling decisions, with major implications for Indigenous rights.

Blog3 July 2025

Same fight, new arena: Mobilising expertise in times of regression

As panic and geopolitics drive drug and bordering policy, harm reduction advocates find new ground at the UN — mobilising evidence, resisting disinformation, and taking the fight for rights to a global stage.

Blog4 June 2025

INCB recommends increased morphine production for palliative care

The INCB’s 2024 report highlights the global failure to ensure equitable access to controlled medicines for pain relief, palliative care, and harm reduction — urging urgent, rights-affirming reforms.

News3 June 2025

Canada: Everything you need to know about B.C.'s toxic drug crisis

Over 16,000 people have been pushed into premature death since the province declared a public health emergency in 2016.

IDPC in the Media3 June 2025

Canada: Everything you need to know about B.C.'s toxic drug crisis

CityNews Vancouver Thumb: CityNews Vancouver

News4 April 2025

What will Sara Carter of Fox News bring as the US's new 'drug czar'?

Trump has nominated Carter, a former right-wing journalist, to lead a tough-on-crime agenda at the Office of National Drug Control Policy, despite a lack of relevant experience.

Events

Nitazenes in Europe – How should we prepare?

Online

9 May 2025

Join C-EHRN’s webinar on 9 May to explore Europe’s emerging nitazene threat, addressing trends, health risks, policy responses, and harm reduction strategies.

News10 February 2025

The influence of colonialism on the pain relief access abyss

Ensuring access to opioid pain relief requires tackling colonial legacies and restrictive policies that push millions into preventable suffering.

Publications7 November 2024

Prioritizing opioid settlement funds for overdose prevention centers in the US

D4DPR argues that money from opioid litigation settlements should also be used for overdose prevention centres to mitigate future death and mortality and improve the quality of life for those who use drugs.

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